Erin (Stepdaughter) God has been very gracious in allowing me to maintain a very close relationship More…with my stepdaughter.

Military Service:

Served in US Army (Worked for US Navy)

Attending Reunion

Yes

Comments:

After graduating from Harding I went into the Army, them into the Army Reserve (to finish serving my eight year military obligation while in college) I graduated from Central State College (now UCO) with majors in Physics and Mathematics, and from Arizona State University with a MS in Physics.

Then for thirty-five years I was a civilian employee of the US Navy doing design, development and testing of small explosive devices. I lived in Kensington, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC.

1999 was a difficult year, I lost three close members of my family — my wife in Maryland and my mother and aunt in Oklahoma City. Working full time and personally handling three estates — two of which were 1,400 miles from my home — turned out to take more hours than there were in a day, so I retired. While dealing with things in Oklahoma City, I decided that I liked the pace of life and the friendliness of the people in Oklahoma, and in 2001 decided to change my residence from Maryland to Oklahoma. (The facts that taxes are lower here and people, government, etc. are more conservative might have also entered into my decision.)

On a more serious note, for fifteen years I was the co-leader of a support group for divorced and separated people at the church I attended in Maryland. As a Christian my faith and Biblical beliefs are a significant and important part of my life and who I am.

I was not part of one of the "in groups" at Harding — maybe because I was somewhat chubby, wore a black leather jacket, and drove a motorcycle. One day after school I was driving my motorcycle from the parking area in the courtyard behind the school. As I was coming down the steep driveway to 33rd Street, (contrary to my usual personality) I decided to show off a little for some girls crossing the driveway. Things did not go exactly as planned — the motorcycle went down and I skinned up my leg and hand. I learned that trying to be a showoff can be painful and embarrassing.